PDT Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 45,712 Werner Enterprises, Inc. $WERN

Key Points

• PDT Partners LLC recently acquired 45,712 shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. for approximately $1.34 million, bringing its ownership stake to about 0.07% as of the end of the first quarter.
• The company reported $0.11 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with revenue of $753.15 million, although it saw a year-over-year decline of 1%.
• Werner Enterprises announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share and initiated a share repurchase plan allowing for the buyback of up to 5 million shares, indicating confidence in its stock value.

PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 45,712 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $1,339,000. PDT Partners LLC owned about 0.07% of Werner Enterprises as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,813,038 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $199,622,000 after acquiring an additional 82,581 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,641,546 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $106,697,000 after buying an additional 173,572 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,170,527 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $63,596,000 after buying an additional 183,340 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,121,696 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $76,211,000 after buying an additional 19,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Werner Enterprises by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,835,187 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $53,844,000 after buying an additional 174,341 shares during the last quarter. 89.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Werner Enterprises Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of WERN stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $28.42. 111,184 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 881,839. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. Werner Enterprises, Inc. has a one year low of $23.02 and a one year high of $42.48. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $28.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.09.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.06. Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 1.77% and a return on equity of 0.92%. The business had revenue of $753.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $736.09 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Werner Enterprises declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, August 11th that allows the company to repurchase 5,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 6th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Werner Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W upgraded Werner Enterprises to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Werner Enterprises from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Werner Enterprises from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Werner Enterprises from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Werner Enterprises has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $30.50.

About Werner Enterprises

Werner Enterprises, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in transporting truckload shipments of general commodities in interstate and intrastate commerce in the United States, Mexico, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Truckload Transportation Services and Werner Logistics.